Since its establishment in 2020, Drone Show Japan Inc’s business operations have expanded exponentially. What began with a small inaugural show in Kanazawa Port, near its headquarters in Ishikawa Prefecture, now caters to clients nationwide on a tailormade basis. Recent projects range from a celebration for amusement park Fuji-Q Highland’s 60th anniversary to the one-year-to-go countdown for the Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition.
With Japan’s drone light show market expected to experience “robust growth” over 2024-2031, fueled by technological innovation and rising consumer demand, according to an August 2024 report by Market Insights Research, Drone Show Japan Inc CEO Yuki Yamamoto is looking ahead with optimism. Japan Today spoke with him to find out more about how far the industry has come and what the future might hold.
What market needs are you catering to?
Our company was founded in April 2020. However, due to COVID-19, the prolonged restrictions on events made it impossible to hold drone shows in Japan until more recently. The number of requests we receive for drone shows has grown dramatically since 2022, and has increased every year since then.
We are asked to create drone shows for local government fireworks festivals, corporate promotions and collaborations with professional sports teams or characters. Drone shows continue to instill a sense of “wow” in audiences, with people noting their beauty and visual impact.
Why are drone shows becoming more popular for businesses?
Drone shows allow the use of the night sky as a giant media, which no one could imagine until the past few years. Letters, logos and characters can be drawn using the drones, making these shows ideal for strengthening a company’s brand or boosting recognition among the public.
Our drone show to celebrate Eye Care Day for Rohto Pharmaceutical in October 2023 became a hot topic for its slightly humorous production and received a great response on television and social media. It even received an Osaka Advertising Association Award — such is the power of branding through drone shows for businesses.
Night shows incorporating drone shows and fireworks are becoming more prevalent in Japan. What are your predictions in this field?
Like drone shows, fireworks have many points of appeal: a long history and tradition, as well as a jovial atmosphere and unique sound. However, there are drawbacks with both, too. Drone shows can be too costly for some budgets while fireworks create noise and smoke, which can make it difficult to host fireworks shows in some areas.
I do not think that drone shows will replace fireworks. We often collaborate with fireworks displays, and by utilizing the advantages of both, the quality of entertainment has been improving, which I think will continue.
What is the biggest problem for the industry and how are you facing it?
People have the idea that drone shows are only possible with a huge budget because drone shows in Japan and overseas tend to be reported to feature thousands of drones. But there are few drone shows of that scale because of their cost.
The average number of drones used in a show is 500. However, we receive many inquiries with smaller budgets, such as collaborations with local government firework festivals, which would involve using fewer than 500 drones. To meet those needs, our goal is to keep drone shows affordable while still maintaining their high quality. With that in mind, we have succeeded in reducing drone usage fees by developing our own drones.
What is the future of drone shows in Japan?
In Japan, many people saw drone shows for the first time at the opening ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, which were held in 2021. Although drone shows are considered new,
drone technology is evolving at an incredible speed, enabling the industry to develop. Since our mission is to entertain the world, we plan to keep evolving and coming up with ideas to create the best drone shows to please our clients and audiences.
Our long-term aim is to make it possible to hold drone shows all over the country and create a world where people can see a drone show just like they can see fireworks, changing drone shows from being something “special” to something “standard” in the coming years.
© Japan Today
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